Advertisement
New Zealand markets open in 6 hours 29 minutes
  • NZX 50

    11,957.50
    +41.26 (+0.35%)
     
  • NZD/USD

    0.5918
    -0.0062 (-1.03%)
     
  • ALL ORDS

    7,932.00
    +25.40 (+0.32%)
     
  • OIL

    81.84
    -0.79 (-0.96%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,309.00
    -48.70 (-2.07%)
     

PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) Stock Has Shown Weakness Lately But Financials Look Strong: Should Prospective Shareholders Make The Leap?

With its stock down 21% over the past three months, it is easy to disregard PDD Holdings (NASDAQ:PDD). However, a closer look at its sound financials might cause you to think again. Given that fundamentals usually drive long-term market outcomes, the company is worth looking at. Specifically, we decided to study PDD Holdings' ROE in this article.

Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors’ money. In simpler terms, it measures the profitability of a company in relation to shareholder's equity.

Check out our latest analysis for PDD Holdings

How Do You Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

ADVERTISEMENT

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for PDD Holdings is:

32% = CN¥60b ÷ CN¥187b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each $1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made $0.32 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

PDD Holdings' Earnings Growth And 32% ROE

Firstly, we acknowledge that PDD Holdings has a significantly high ROE. Secondly, even when compared to the industry average of 16% the company's ROE is quite impressive. Under the circumstances, PDD Holdings' considerable five year net income growth of 75% was to be expected.

As a next step, we compared PDD Holdings' net income growth with the industry, and pleasingly, we found that the growth seen by the company is higher than the average industry growth of 14%.

past-earnings-growth
past-earnings-growth

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. Is PDD Holdings fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is PDD Holdings Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively?

PDD Holdings doesn't pay any regular dividends currently which essentially means that it has been reinvesting all of its profits into the business. This definitely contributes to the high earnings growth number that we discussed above.

Conclusion

On the whole, we feel that PDD Holdings' performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.